Okay, folks, you want a quick and easy answer for why the “terrorists” hate us as much as they do? Here’s your answer: when a right-wing radio host makes up a phony story about our first Muslim Congressman demanding to be sworn in with his hand on the Koran.

ThinkProgress debunks the main story enough (it’s not true, no one is sworn in on any holy book, etc), but what I’d like to focus on is this bit from the actual screed this moron has written:

Devotees of multiculturalism and political correctness who do not see how damaging to the fabric of American civilization it is to allow Ellison to choose his own book need only imagine a racist elected to Congress. Would they allow him to choose Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” the Nazis’ bible, for his oath? And if not, why not? On what grounds will those defending Ellison’s right to choose his favorite book deny that same right to a racist who is elected to public office?

This is why the “terrorists hate us”. It’s not for our freedoms, it’s not because America is awesome, it’s because racist shits like Dennis Prager insist on correlating the Muslim Holy Book with a book written by the leader of the Nazi movement. When we equate their holy book with Mein Kampf, we are fueling their anger. For some reason so many on the right have no idea that juuuuust maybe wiping your ass with their religion might cheese the Muslims off a little bit.

And then we do get into the debunking itself. Listen, even if everyone did get sworn in on a Bible, it’s not because it’s mandated. There’s no law that says anyone, even the president, has to be sworn in or take an oath on a Bible. It’s just something people do to demonstrate their “seriousness”. After all, how much more could you mean it than putting your hand on the book of your god?

So, logically, a Muslim should put his hand on a Koran. Swear to Allah that he’ll uphold the law of the land. Swearing to someone else’s god in a little silly, because why should you keep true to your word? Not only that, isn’t swearing in the name of another god one of those “false idol” things? I would imagine that there are few, if any, Christians that would agree to swear on a Koran if they were, say, testifying against Saddam Hussein in an Iraqi court.

But these naive people do not appreciate that America will not change the attitude of a single American-hating Muslim by allowing Ellison to substitute the Koran for the Bible. In fact, the opposite is more likely: Ellison’s doing so will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones, as Islamists, rightly or wrongly, see the first sign of the realization of their greatest goal — the Islamicization of America.

No, jackass, the extremists will be further enraged to hear that people like you think that their holy book is inherently evil and on par with a book written by Adolf Hitler. They would be further enraged to hear that they would be forced to show reverence to YOUR god if they want to be given any respect in your country. They would be further enraged to hear that they are considered second class citizens unless they renounce Allah and agree with you that it’s The Bible or Bust!

…of course, this would be an issue if you hadn’t pulled the story out of your ass. But you did. So you’re a racist AND a liar. Well done.

Can’t make another post for a bit, folks. I had a minor car accident (very minor), so now I’m stuck at a gas station waiting for AAA to pick me up, thankful that most people have no idea what the phrase “unsecured wireless network” means. As soon as I’m back and able to get some posting done, I will.

Will sent me this, I found it interesting. It’s a chart of the national debt every year since the 1940s. Mildly depressing.

Now I heavily doubt I need to point this out, but I will anyway. Take a look at where the biggest spikes occur. The first starts around 1980 and starts to taper off in 1993, almost stagnating in the late 1990s. Then after 2001 it rockets upward again, with no slowdown in sight.

The republicans often tell us that democrats are crazy with money. They spend and spend and tax like crazy, that they’re the ones who are smart with the country’s budget. But the numbers don’t seem to support that at all. Genuinely depresses me. I remember the seemingly unending economic boom of the 1990s, and now this.